Monday, May 18, 2015

Hildreth's of 1698 Southampton

First, let me say what an unexpected delight it was to find a census had been taken in Southampton, Long Island in 1698, and not just of males! It seems almost too good to be true! It is also my understanding that this census records "young and old," meaning not just head of household. I have to look into this detail more closely to be sure, but if true, this source is even more valuable.

The names as listed here may or may not be listed in the order they were recorded at the time; that part is still something I need to investigate. Though I can't prove it, I suspect these names might be appearing in age order.

But all speculation aside, here are the names of males that I believe pertain to our branch of the family - those related to Joseph Hildreth and Hannah Jessup:

Joseph Hildrith

Joseph Hildrith Jr.

Nathan Hildrith

Isaak Hildrith

Ephraim Hildrith

Daniell Hildrith

Jonathan Hildrith

Separate from this group of names was listed Benj. Hildrith, and separate still was a group that included James Hildrith, James Hildrith Jr. and Joshua Hildrith.

I'm going to discuss each of these in order.

Joseph Hildrith - presumably 1657-1735, married Hannah Jessup, who was presumably the Hannah Hildrith listed with the white females.

Joseph Hildrith Jr. This one is a bit tough. I have in my tree, but without source, that there were two sons of Joseph Hildrith Sr. named Joseph. One was born in 1679 and died some time before 1696, and the second was born around 1696. On the other hand, I found yet another unsourced tree today that mentions only one son of Joseph Sr. named Joseph, whose vital dates were roughly 1679-1742. This Joseph Jr. apparently married somebody named Hannah and had a second wife named Deborah Scott, and had only daughters. Does anybody know anything else about this Joseph? It should also be noted there was a 1720 Southampton deed from Joseph Hildreth to his son Joseph "given for love and affection."

Nathan Hildrith - our ancestor - 1685-1746. If his vital dates are correct, then this census was listing children, because Nathan would have been only 13 years old. Nathan also later received land from his father (in 1713 and 1715).

Ephraim Hildrith - 1689-1771. Same comment about age; Ephraim would have been 9 years old. Ephraim received land from his father in 1717.

Daniell Hildrith - b. abt 1691, though I have no good source for that date. To my knowledge, we don't know of any other other mention of this Daniel. That is, if he was a son of Joseph Sr. at all.

According to older genealogies (like Howell's book, The Early History of Southampton), Joseph Sr. also had sons named John "probably," and Isaac and Jonathan, all of whom I have thought might have been born after 1700. At least as regards Isaac and Jonathan, either there were other males in Southampton in 1698 with these names who were not sons of Joseph Sr., or Isaac and Jonathan were born before 1698. That is, if these Hildreth's were sons of Joseph Sr. at all.

One more son seems to have been nearly universally associated with Joseph Sr. and that is Benjamin. The fact that a Benjn Hildrith is listed by himself and not with the other family groups implies to me that he was possibly older, and on his own by 1698. That is, if he was a son of Joseph Sr. at all.

James Hildreth is supposedly the brother of Joseph Sr. and I am assuming that James Jr. and Joshua were his sons or other close relation.

Since there were no deeds found from Joseph Hildreth Sr. to Daniel, Isaac, or Jonathan, one might guess that the later sons - if they were sons of Joseph Sr. - either did not survive or they moved away. That is still just conjecture, but it's interesting to note that all three of these males who have been attributed to Joseph Sr. as his sons might have been born before 1698.

There is a whole lot of speculation going on in this post, granted. But this source nevertheless seems to me quite valuable, and I'm not opposed to wondering.